Watching Washington

Romney Moves Up As Potential McCain VP

Once upon a time, people who wanted to be president were not expected to admit it in public. This mask of false indifference had to be dropped when the rise of primaries forced candidates to campaign actively for the office.

Until recently, however, we still expected those who wanted to promote themselves for VICE president to do so quietly, perhaps even while denying interest in the job. Active pursuit was still regarded as unseemly.

Now even that last bit of coyness seems unnecessary. The current crop of potential No. 2 persons is increasingly willing to show interest and even compete where the world can see.

Take the potential running mates for Republican John McCain. In the months since he became the presumptive nominee, McCain has summoned several prospective partners to his home for barbecue. All but one came running. The one, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, pleaded a previous commitment. But that probably didn't help his standing.

More recently, McCain has auditioned several from his short list in the role of surrogate, pushing them out into the media to talk up his candidacy and argue with critics.

Some have handled this better than others. South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford probably eclipsed his modest chances of getting the nod when he said he was "drawing a blank" when asked to name an economic disagreement between McCain and President Bush (CNN July 13).

Carly Fiorina, the former CEO of Hewlett-Packard, may have lowered her stock when she said McCain was "not one of those running around trying to overturn Roe v. Wade." There was just too much videotape of McCain saying Roe "ought to be overturned," and the McCain folks could not have been pleased about seeing all of it aired repeatedly.

Much more successful has been the comeback of former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who opened the latest edition of the Today Show by telling NBC's Matt Lauer that Barack Obama's "sweet talk" would be trumped by McCain's "straight talk." It's a line Romney has been shopping around on other networks as well.

Beyond that, the prospective running mates themselves are taking some extraordinary steps that seem timed to improve their chances of being chosen.

For example, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist ended nearly three decades of confirmed bachelorhood by proposing to his girlfriend this month. It might have been a total coincidence, but the proposal followed a New York Times Sunday Magazine interview that dwelt on his single status (after a brief marriage in his student years). It has long been axiomatic that voters expect their president to be married, and vice presidents must generally meet all the requirements of the presidency.

Romney stunned much of the political world this week by announcing he would not seek donations to cover the $45 million he loaned his own campaign for the primaries. Romney had indicated when he dropped out in February that he was facing enough personal financial exposure to force a difficult decision. At the time, the full weight of that debt was not yet clear.

Like other contenders, Romney could go on seeking money for his failed campaign, collecting money to pay down some of what his campaign owes him. But to do so would compete for his time and divide his loyalties, which right at the moment have been transferred to the man he savaged as "a liberal" not too many months ago.

Also, by forgoing his shot at reimbursement, Romney looks like a stand-up guy and gets a positive news story at a critical time. McCain might choose his vice president early -- well before the convention in St. Paul, Minn. -- so as to raise his campaign's general profile and steal back some of the media focus lately lavished on Obama.

Romney's polish as a stand-in, combined with his business success and reassuring demeanor, look better and better as the economic issue ascends. Romney could help out in Michigan, where his name still works. He would also be at least some help in his other home regions of New England and the Mountain West.

Romney was also the guy who would have won in Iowa without the presence of evangelical preacher Mike Huckabee. Romney, who beat McCain soundly in Michigan, surely would have done so again in South Carolina and Florida if he had not been splitting the conservative vote in those states four ways with Huckabee, Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani.

So right now pressure is building again for McCain to set aside his personal distaste for Romney and put him on the ticket. The campaign has put out the story that the obvious animosity between the two men in the primaries has been set aside. No one will ever sense true chemistry in this relationship, but it's possible McCain could make the same judgement call that Sen. Bob Dole made in 1996.

Dole had endured considerable abuse from former Rep. Jack Kemp of New York when they both served in Congress, and it was clear that the Kansan had little use for the former pro quarterback. But if Kemp could help win the White House, Dole was willing to make the personal sacrifice and put him on the ticket.

It was a sign of some desperation on Dole's part, and in the end it did not get him elected. But Romney is a more mature and serious politician than Kemp ever was, and he may be a better antidote to McCain's specific problems than Kemp was for Dole's.

With his most recent moves, Romney has shown he is willing to forget past wounds and make sacrifices of a material kind that few can dream of making. He has done what he can do.

Will McCain feel the need to do as much?

1:20 PM ET | 07-19-2008 | permalink

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